about

To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.
- William Blake

Continuing the visionary musing of The Face Of The Deep, Icons follows Shadow Play in a unique series combining classical sensibilities with the energy of rock. Roving freely through life and art, Jeff unveils, in ten icons, a world transfigured by new ways of seeing charged with grandeur, and as richly intertwined as the celtic cover design. Burning with Blake's double vision, Icons is a mystical journey through the natural world.
– Gord Wilson

Thou who has given me eyes to see,
and love this sight so fair.
Give me heart to find thee out
and read thee everywhere.
– John Keble (1792 - 1876)

Music Review –

A superb mix of classical, jazz, pop, and avant-garde. Instrumentally, Johnson reminds you of Vangelis with his spectacular combination of acoustic and electronic keyboards. The lyrics are more than lyrics, they are treatises on the search for meaning inspired by Madeleine L'Engle, C. S. Lewis and many others...an album to sit down and listen to.
– Mike Atkinson / The Door

Of the many inspirations behind these songs, the following should be mentioned:
"A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeleine L'Engle
"Birth, Dreaming, Death" by George MacDonald
"Till We Have Faces" by C.S. Lewis
"Agony And Ecstasy" by Irving Stone

contact / help

Someone in peril describes very well your condition.
Someone in peril regardless of your situation.

Like a moth that is drawn to a light in the dark of the evening,
Only to find someone's turned off the light once he gets there.
But you could see,
Yeah, you could see,
Ah, you could see.

Standing in front of a door that I wish I could open,
Standing in front of the door to a heart that is broken.

Like a man who remembers in awe the sight he had never seen,
I tried to explain but the words didn't make any sense to you.
But you could see,
Yeah, you could see,
Ah, you could see.

Track Name: Remove The Mask

Remove The Mask
By Jeff Johnson

Till we show faces, we never will notice,
The hidden traces of glory within us.

Remove the mask that is hiding the beauty,
Begin the task of revealing the mystery.

Till we are humble, we never will learn from,
The times we stumble, because we are human.
Till we show mercy, we will not grasp justice,
Till we can cry, we do not deserve laughter.

Remove the mask that is hiding the beauty,
Begin the task of revealing the mystery.

Track Name: Agony And Ecstasy

Agony And Ecstasy
By Jeff Johnson

Michelangelo,
They say you're in the know,
'cause your agony became your ecstasy.

But, Michelangelo,
Where am I to go,
When my ecstasy turns into agony?

Please, Michelangelo,
Just say it isn't so,
That the world appears to be the artist's foe.

Michelangelo,
Where am I to go
When my ecstasy turns into agony?

Michelangelo,
I think you really know,
The answer's in the paint you left above our heads.

Michelangelo,
I've set my view to low:
The agony remains as does the ecstasy.

Track Name: Waiting For The End

Old man standing at the door,
I wonder what he's waiting for.
All day long he poses there,
Waiting for the end to come.

Young man locked behind the door,
Wonders what he's in there for,
In that veiled room he lies,
Waiting for the end to come.

Its no fun being seventy,
Its no fun being seventeen,
Its no fun being any age,
when you're waiting for the end to come ...

A soldier stares into the door,
Wonders what he's looking for,
All night long he's stationed there,
Waiting for the end to come.

The officer behind the door,
Wonders what he's in there for,
In that veiled room he sits,
Waiting for the end to come.

Its no fun being seventy,
Its no fun being seventeen,
Its no fun being any age,
when you're waiting for the end to come ...

Track Name: Ancient Icons

Ancient Icons
By Jeff Johnson

Broken trees stand in the field outside my window,
Crippled from the weather and somebody's lack of care ...

Ancient icons hang before me in the dim light,
How they haunt me and remind me of my frailty ...

So how are you, old friend?
I'm not so well, old friend,
I keep looking at these pictures,
And they keep looking back at me.
They keep staring back at me ...

Track Name: Windermere

Windermere
By Jeff Johnson with words by John Keble (1792 - 1876)

Looking through the window,
Out upon the lake,
Windermere is trying to sleep,
But continues to awake.

High above the village,
Standing on a hill,
An angel sings a psalmody that interrupts the still.

Her song seeps through the cracks and gaps
of the weathered window frame,
It fills the room with praises of an even older name.
Through the walls that form this room,
I'm taken to that hill,
Face to face with someone that my memory marvels still.

I could never hear these sounds,
I could never see.
I could never feel this breeze until you blew on me.
I could never love, really,
I could never fear,
Oh, I would have never ever thought that I'd be standing here!

Thou who has given me eyes to see,
and love this sight so fair.
Give me heart to find thee out
and read thee everywhere.*

*Note: Keble's poem is carved on a stone mounted on top of Orrest Head overlooking Lake Windermere, England.